Originally from New York, Freedman is educational director of Isralight, a Jewish education/outreach program. "Walking into Sbarro's, there is a larger area for sitting in the front, but the back looked a bit cooler and quieter, so I decided to grab a seat in the back," he wrote. "That decision saved my life."

Freedman is an ordained rabbi, a storyteller and a musician, as well as an Israeli Defense Forces company commander. His weekly thoughts on Judaism and spirituality reach thousands of people around the world. He speaks about his harrowing experience, the trauma of Sept. 11 and other instances of terror in a spiritual and holistic manner, trying to find some message behind the violence.